Long Bright River

My rating is 5 stars for two reasons. First, it is so dark...what is the fascination with filming scenes in lighting so dark the viewer sees nothing? This technique is not something to be applauded. It is not "artistic" nor creative. Stop already! Make a podcast if all the audience can do is listen and not see! Second, the story could have been effectively told in half the episodes. It felt as if the studio slotting 8 episodes drove the content rather than the story line. A final aside - the casting for younger versions of characters was awful. By no stretch of the imagination would these actors grow up into the adult versions. I always find poor casting distracting.

Some of the posted reviews are absolutely mind boggling in their lack of empathy and compassion. Apparently, the homelessness, drug addiction and prostitution in this area of Philadelphia (called Kensington) marks the people (especially its female members) as losers who are not worth consideration. And by caring about the fate of the women, in general, and worrying over her sister, in particular, the series' lead character Mickey, a patrol cop played by Amanda Seyfried, is branded as some sort of gullible sucker. I found the character of her sister, Kacey, as portrayed by Ashleigh Cummings, as the most realistic and fascinating in the show. It made me want to read Liz Moore's book, and I rate the series as an 8 out of 10 stars.

I don't get all the negative reviews. I thought this show was very good. Every episode left me wanting to watch another therefore I ended up binging the whole thing in one sitting. By no means is it produced to perfection but the story itself had me feeling all types of emotions. I also didn't think it was predictable, like many others have said l. Definitely had me guessing and on the edge of my seat at times. Check it out yourself and form your own opinion. I also liked On Call who has Spencer from pretty little liars playing a cop. Actors like to step out of the box and not be pigeonholed into playing the same character all the time. It's TV it doesn't need to be so realistic. It's for entertainment purposes. If you want such a realistic crime/thriller, just turn on the news.

Solid show highlighting the many devastations and complexities of addiction. Good cast with better than average acting - Amanda Seyfried was a real bright spot lead. It could have been a great show if it was tightened up to only 5 or 6 (max) episodes. What began as a tight, engrossing story that adeptly wove multiple storylines devolved into a superficial whodunnit melodrama that was, IMO, wholly unnecessary (and detracted from the depth of the first episodes). It feels like they changed editors after episode 3. It's a bummer as it had real potential to be great.

I don't understand why Hollywood believes there needs to be 8 episodes for every show. How about make as many episodes as the story requires- case in point is Adolescence, they made the number of episodes needed to tell that story and it is more powerful because of the restraint.

This show follows a Philadelphia Police Officer who struggles with her co workers believing that the deaths of multiple homeless females are not murders disguised as drug overdoses. The acting is superb and the story line is tense. Along the way there are many twists and turns that I personally did not see coming. This show is gritty and nothing is sugar coated and well worth the time to watch it. The show highlights probably the worst areas of Philadelphia where drugs are rampant but it is a thoroughly riveting and enjoyable journey to watch this show. I would recommend it to those that enjoy genuine hard core police dramas that also highlight personal journeys of individuals.